Flagstaff, AZ Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Flagstaff City Code § 3-12-001-0007(B) states that 'the owner of an STR shall reside on the property as the owner's primary residence if the property contains an accessory dwelling unit and if a certificate of occupancy was issued for the accessory dwelling unit by the City on or after September 14, 2024.' The rule targets newer ADUs specifically: a property with an ADU permitted and finaled before that date is not covered, and a property without any ADU is not covered at all, so most Flagstaff STRs, a stand-alone house with no ADU or a condo unit, fall outside this residency condition. Where it applies, the owner cannot own the main house and lease out a newer ADU as a nightly rental while living elsewhere; the primary home on the parcel has to be the owner's actual residence.

Violating the residency condition is charged as a prohibited use under § 3-12-001-0007, the same subsection that bars nonresidential uses, sex-trafficking-related activity, and code violations at an STR. A prohibited-use finding exposes the owner to the STR chapter's escalating civil penalty schedule under § 3-12-001-0015 ($500 for a first verified violation, $1,000 for a second, $3,500 for a third or later within twelve months) and, after three verified violations in a rolling twelve-month period, can support a license suspension of up to twelve months under § 3-12-001-0014. Advertisements or listings referencing the property are treated as prima facie evidence of a prohibited use under § 3-12-001-0007(C), so a marketed ADU listing while the owner lives off-site is itself evidence for enforcement.